fatigue

My youngest daughter recently started running cross-country. A cross over from soccer as she loved her coach and he coaches girls soccer in the spring, and cross-country in the fall. She’s been doing an amazing job, until the one race she was in agonizing pain. I knew that she was running last after being at a meet all morning, but what did I miss?

It suddenly hit me that no one, herself included, remembered to remind the kids to stay hydrated for the last race. Then, volunteering to march alongside the band for the oldest daughter in a recent parade, a mom told me of a boy cramping and almost passing out during the last parade. You guys. What do I always say (to my kids to be embarrassing)? Hydrate with some high quality H2O!! Yes. I use The Waterboy.

So now that we have covered this, grab some water right now and read the rest of this.

5 Signs That Your Body Needs More Water:

You actually feel dry. Dry mouth, dry eyeballs, or dry skin. Right. Like you’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name…or something like that. Sugary drinks are like adding some crack to your brain and are not going to hydrate. I do not make these facts up. I just write them in a more interesting way than others. If you are experiencing itchy eyes and don’t normally have allergies, go for some water.

You feel like you are 80 years old at age 30. I might be the exception to this because I started to feel old at 23, but really, if you are experiencing joint pain, I learned about this really cool thing called synovial fluid, and hey. It needs some love. Sugary stuff is inflammatory to joints. Chances are you have heard this. Water is not. It helps nutrients move through your blood therefore getting to your joints, and not only that, your body’s cartilage is composed of nearly 80% water. Hmm. What if it’s not getting any? Where is it taking nutrients from? Think about it.

Fatigue like you can’t explain to the average person. When I was in chronic fatigue, my body had to work twice as hard. I don’t try to think back on those days of 24/7 pain for like 5 years, but I do know that I wasn’t doing the correct things. No doctor ever addressed this. Seriously. Water brings oxygen into your body. No one, not one doctor, said you know, mild dehydration causes the blood to thicken. I started noticing when I went for phlebotomies that my blood was really thick at certain times (not trying to gross you out, but it was part of my life for over 19 years to watch my blood go into a bag, and technically, I still have to keep an eye on it). I was always so out of it before, and during the nurses would say drink, drink, drink. One smart nurse finally hooked me up to an IV. Duh. That felt better. I didn’t know that my body was sucking the oxygen out from wherever it could find it, thus creating this sort of mini-storm of fatigue, mood swings, and basically quicksand feeling.

You might suffer digestive problems. Let’s talk about our colons. They need some acknowledgement for all the shit they put up with. << I couldn’t resist, but really. I would be embarrassed about this, but that ship sailed years ago when my friend was diagnosed with colon cancer and had zero history and the only warning was she thought it might have been hemorrhoids. I know I sound like my college biology teacher, and I can still hear her today, but she would yell to the class your ermmm feces says lots about your health. Again, if this saves a life, I don’t mind saying stay hydrated and take note of any issues and see a doctor as needed. Don’t be embarrassed about this as life is too short.

Your headaches are increasing. A very noticeable sign all the way down to your young child who is in sports. A theory is that the dehydration feeling causes pressure in your brain to change. Drink 2-3 cups of water immediately as that helps (in theory) to level out the fluid levels around your spinal cord. I believe this to be true as I get enormous pressure and, I notice when I urinate that it is not the right color. Ack!! Those two go hand in hand. Dark pee, headaches, drink more water. Sorry not sorry. Trying to be helpful and embarrassing at the same time.

The bottom line is, why don’t we talk about this with our health professionals? Are we too embarrassed to mention these signs? Our body is showing us in the only way it can that it is of dire importance that we notice the signs and signals it is giving us. Liked this? Here are 5 Steps to Being Healthier Today to continue on in this theme. Just use the search button on the right hand side or the top tab “health” for more. Want my newsletter? That’s over there too.

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This article is not medical advice, but it is intended to help you on your journey. While I don’t know if anything can actually prevent you from becoming depressed, I believe that my diligence helped me come out of it. The signs that I personally experienced were from my own combination of invisible diseases. I was diagnosed with “secondary depression” stemming from pain.

Symptoms you might experience:

Loss of energy or fatigue even after sleeping.

Feelings of worthlessness or guilt that you are to blame.

Weight loss or gain…in my case it was gain.

Thoughts of suicide or just nothingness…as in what would happen if you didn’t exist?

Restlessness, insomnia, or wanting to sleep all day long.

No pleasure in any or all activities, and/or no joy or happiness in other things that used to bring you joy.

“Hermit” behavior and not speaking to anyone.

While there are certainly more symptoms, these are just a few that are warning signs your body is trying to tell you something. What do you think your body is trying to tell you? There could be many underlying health problems mimicking depression that can be corrected and/or helped once noted.

5 steps to take if you are experiencing any of the above symptoms:

Have your thyroid checked, your vitamin levels and possibly even your adrenal glands. If you open the link on thyroid, in the fine print of the article, it says this: A 2005 study found that subjects with Hashimoto’s disease displayed high frequencies of lifetime Depressive Episodes, Generalized Anxiety Disorders, Social Phobia, and Primary Sleep Disorders. What had I been trying to tell my doctor for over a year? That there was a link. When he refused, seriously, to listen to me I went to a functional medical doctor instead. The body gives us these warning signs as a way of letting us know that we really are not in balance. I could see that I was not, and definitely knew something brought it on because never in my life had I felt so empty.

Get more Vitamin D. I take this one right here, but have your levels checked first. I started looking into the most pure form of phytotherapy, or plant-based nutrition supplements, and was personally sold by the methods of how this company preserved the nutrients in the most readily available form. I read that Vitamin B-12 and other B vitamins play a role in producing brain chemicals that affect mood and other brain functions. Low levels of B-12 and other B vitamins such as vitamin B-6 and folate may be linked to depression. So I also decided to take a gluten-free multivitamin.

Check and see if you suffer from food intolerance as it a real thing. Like most people, I used to think that food intolerance caused unpleasant reactions like diarrhea, swelling of lips or tongue, etc. I would not have associated my food with what was happening in my brain and gut until I studied the effects of what I was eating. I journal the questionable items which might have sugar or gluten to see if that is what triggers my response or mood shift now. When I am away from foods I need to eat, and make do with foods that I should NOT eat, there is a consequence in my body. My body warns me almost immediately now.

This one is hard, but drink less caffeine. Anxiety often happens along with depression, and too much caffeine can make you nervous, jittery, or anxious. There is no clear link; however, it is well known that cutting out sodas and sugary drinks that spike your energy and then leave you in a slump and replacing with water will leave your blood sugar levels at a more normal balance, which will, in fact, help you in the long run. Plus you might just sleep better this breaking the cycle.

Exercise in some way shape or form daily. People get mad at me for pointing this one out usually, but it brings us back to the endorphins. I wrote about this a while back, but it is true that endorphins help us. In my own way, I always have dark chocolate here, so I hope you opened my old post up there as it has a funny clip, plus I do yoga and walk, get outside, etc. Truly is life saving to get exercise.

While these things might seem insignificant to others who do not know what it’s like to be trapped in a world of nothingness, these tips really could help save a friend’s life. Keep the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on a card as well.

Articles I have written on autoimmune can also help you in your research on gluten intolerance, leaky gut and more.

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9 tips on how to manage your iron overload disease…

This post will be dedicated to all of my new friends and friends I have yet to meet. I can’t wait to get to my quote, but that’s my closing signature as you know. So here it goes. Let’s collect all of things we have learned and put them on one page. I’m going to start because it’s my blog. Onto your assignment. If you have been diagnosed with Hereditary Hemochromatosis, you already know what’s wrong with you. Hopefully, somewhere along the way someone explained what you should be doing, but if not, click the link above. I am moving onto the next step. Healing. All of the bloggers I have recently met share a wealth of knowledge, but we are not doctors. We are here as a support group for each other, so ask your doctor about any tips we share. I am going to share some things that have taken me over 14 years to learn. I don’t want you to wait that long. If anyone has anything to add, please comment below.

My joints ache. What should I do? Start taking a product with Glucosamine and Chondroitin like Relief. I use the products I linked here, but you can use whatever works for you. I personally know these have no fillers and no adverse side effects for my autoimmune disease as well.

I am exhausted all the time. What’s next? After your ferritin has reached a good level (10 is nice), have your doctor check your vitamin D. Seriously. Why did it take 12 years to realize this? I can’t be out in the sun for long. This would make sense to check. My favorite is this one called It’s Vital Minerals.

I was taking a multi-vitamin. What now? Stay away from them! Too much vitamin C is not needed as it promotes the absorption of iron and obviously we can’t take iron. It was all Mr. Flintstones fault…if only we knew back then. Find a vitamin with either low C or none added, and no added iron!

I like raw seafood. I heard I have to stay away. This is true…to some degree. Do not eat raw oysters ever due to Vibrio Vulnificus. Thanks to one of my new blogger friends, I learned this word. Honestly, no one ever told me why, just the get sick and die part. Seriously.

Drink more coffee. Why? Coffee is your life’s blood. Ha. Okay, so not really, but it does interfere with the absorption of iron. Awesome. We are Bi-winning now.

Can I still drink gallons of sweet tea? Okay, so I live in the south, and drink lots of tea. My momma will even tell you she put it in my bottle. No lie. Please drink all the tea you want! In fact, it also has magical properties if you drink the green tea version. Would I fib? Well, maybe not exactly magical per say, but it depends on your symptoms. We are basing this off me. While it does have a trace amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), it has selenium, which helps the thyroid. This is important as iron has played with parts of my body I was not aware of. That statement sounds a bit off…moving on.

Prebiotics are good for your gut!! If you are in maintenance phase and are de-ironed, add these chews to make your digestion better. Prebiotics are fibers that support the growth of healthy probiotic bacteria in your digestive system. Very important to heal your “gut” and to think about it as something that helps balance your whole system.

Yay! I am “normal” again. Can I stop getting treatments? No, you can’t. Not unless you have a vampire living with you or you are into bloodletting with leeches. Go every 4-6 months for life and you’ll be fine. That is why my doctor has a house on the water and just added a library addition. I wish I was kidding. She could at least offer me a tour.

Please get checked for diabetes, thyroid problems, heart disease, or pituitary issues should new symptoms occur.

This list will continue to grow and evolve as my readers share their knowledge. If you found my blog through Facebook, welcome! Please feel free to subscribe and share with your loved ones. And now the part I like sharing best…one of my favorite quotes.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.”

~C.S. Lewis

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Hey friends…you know how last week on the Facebook fan page for my blog, I asked you a question? I asked you to tell me what kind of “invisible disease” you had. Many times, we feel so alone with these diseases, because they are in fact, not visible to people looking in at our lives. But this statistic came from the link I posted: 96% of people with chronic medical conditions live with an illness that is invisible.

I don’t really think we are alone. So let’s say you didn’t get your disability and you have 5, maybe 6 illnesses on that list. Guess what? It happens. I decided it meant something different. I decided it meant that I was supposed to find a flexible job working from home and helping others. Don’t be discouraged. You have a few options. You can continue the fight without a lawyer. I have been told that’s why I never got anywhere. You can get a lawyer. Or you can move on. Moving on is not giving up. I just want to give you permission in case you needed to hear that. I know all the excuses in your head. I know all the what ifs. But do not stay in that place of despair. Make a plan. Work on it. Move on.

So now I am in yoga teacher training, and it’s hard. Very, very hard emotionally and physically. I doubt my path at times. I do. But as my friend said yesterday, okay really paraphrasing, if we didn’t have emotions or feelings we’d be like Data from Star Trek. He was an android who was unable to feel emotion or understand certain human responses. We don’t want to live like that. So acknowledge the feelings you are having, and work the plan. Whatever the plan is. If you don’t have plan, write something down. Just a few things. It can be as simple as get out of bed, and get dressed. Get to the store today. Fibro friends, this is an important plan. You know this. Get out of your pajamas…says the blogger still in pajamas. But you know what I’m talking about!!! You do.

Next on your list, make a new friend. Okay, this one is hard. Why is this hard? It is hard for people who feel alone, because opening ourselves up and getting vulnerable with new people is like going to a new doctor for us. We hate having to start at the beginning and tell our story. I know this. You know this. Stop ignoring this one. So here’s how you can go about doing this. Re-evaluate who is in your life right now. Who checks in on you…who checked out on you. Those people who checked out of your life during your hardest times, they have left you space for new people. I know it sucks, believe me I do. But it’s time to be honest. Those people didn’t understand anyway.

So start a new practice. Get your list out. What did you like to do before all the bumps? For me, I already liked yoga, so I looked into restorative, which was low-key. I researched other types of exercises for fibromyalgia, and decided I didn’t feel like going to water aerobics, but if you like that, put that down. if you liked gardening put it down. Don’t think about the pain, I know you automatically went to “I can’t get down there and bend.” Stop. So here’s a neat idea, look up community free classes or workshops in your area. You can also container garden and not have to bend. See how I did that? Put it at eye level. Flower arranging? Do it. Whatever it is that old you did, write it down.

So guess what’s going to happen during this process of thinking about other things that you now have room for in your life…you are going to make new friends. You are going to feel better, and you are going to feel less alone. Anytime you have a negative thought, push it away and back to the things you are doing that are positive. That are a step in the right direction. So when you get that letter in the mail from social security…don’t be afraid to open it. Make a plan.

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So it just takes one thing…just one for me to start my yo-yo mood. The other day, I was doing whatever random things I do on the computer. Mostly making quotes for a few pages I run, and a friend sent me this article in a message called It’s Not Fibromyalgia. I read her message and was surprised that she too suffered…but when I started reading this post, my head went to the place it goes to when people write about their experiences. It kind of goes like this when people talk about how bad it is living with pain…I hear you sister. I understand this. It sucks, but damn this is depressing to read in someone’s voice other than my own. Do I sound like this? Crap. This is messed up. Sigh. More depressing things I have been through. I could be her…she could be me. Wait. Wait a minute. She just said something I need to hear. Someone actually listened to her. Hold on and back up to that part because the rest is the same as my life. Except this part. This part where she finds HOPE.

So I get to the symptoms, you know the part where invisible diseases can’t be seen except for the fact that I have lots of those symptoms…and doctors don’t really know what to do…so I kind of stopped talking to them about what’s going on. And I get to the part where she prayed she had this thing because it actually explains something. Black mold. Wow. Who knew? Well, obviously someone did, but not anyone else most of us have ever come across in our long line of 18 different specialists. So I messaged my one advocate in this fight…Dr. Marion who I have written about. And she says yes. Yes we can do this test.

For those of you who might be new, I gave up on regular doctors after getting diagnosed with fibromyalgia by a man who was a nervous wreck and a top rheumatologist in the area. He said he understood why I wouldn’t want to be on pharmaceuticals given the side effects of the “medicines” and the possibility of a liver compromise with hereditary hemochromatosis (see my tab at the top about that genetic disorder). Not to mention the other possible complications with those “drugs”. I decided to go all-natural using plant based phytotherapy (see my tab Vitalize You at the top). So that brings me to where I am. No doctors listen to my intuition. None. I know for a fact that something deep down has made so many things spin off…and it’s only a matter of time before we find the link. So if this isn’t it…we keep going. But it’s one more thing to cross off. I will let you know what happens.

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While I have been thinking about this post for a few days, I have not written it. There are many reasons it needs to be written…I think someone else wants to know that I understand. The products I use to “close the gate” are listed at the end.

Imagine if you will, that you have to get up and go to the store. Maybe you don’t like going to the store, but you have your list, you get dressed, and you go. Imagine a fibro friend has to go to the store. You haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep so when you wake up you are groggy. You ache in places you didn’t know could ache, but it’s normal, so you try not to let it interfere as you know you have things to do. You hold tightly onto the handrail as you slowly creak downstairs. I say creak, because in your head, you are imagining that you are 85 years old. But of course, you are barely 40.

When you get to the kitchen, you look at the list, because without it, there is no way you will even know why you are going to the store. Memory-schmemory. You read the list 3 times because you know, you just know, you will forget something. You get the keys, you say to yourself, I can do this. You don’t even sit down after getting up. Why? Because you know you won’t go. Again. To the damn store. You realize you have to go to not one but two stores because of the special items on your list. You tell yourself you can rest after this. You look for your keys. Wait, you have them. Ok. You leave the house. Task one is complete and it just felt like you ran a marathon.

When you get to the store, you see an elderly woman walking slowly in. You quicken your pace even though you ache all over. If she can do this, so can I. You actually make it into the store. You check your list, again. As you go down the aisles you begin to get tired. You tell yourself to push on. You get what’s needed, after checking the list multiple times. And then you check out only to realize it wasn’t that bad. But you have to go to another store. You realize you are exhausted, but you can do this. Task two is complete, and the marathon has now turned into an ultra-marathon.

The next store. You sit in the parking lot telling yourself that this is it. You only have a few things left. You go into the store. You don’t think. You can’t dwell. Get in and out. Do not abort the mission or your dachshunds will have no food. That would be bad. You get the items you need, plus some gluten-free things they have here, and on that particular aisle, it’s almost like they know. They just know, you needed a song. So “Roar” starts playing. Sweet. Now even Katy Perry is cheering for me to finish this trip. And my damn eyeballs are teary because it’s the part, you know the part, “Get ready cause I’ve had enough…I see it all, I see it now. I’ve got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire, cuz I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar.” Sooo, I’m like, let’s go store. I got this. So now it’s like a decathlon or something. I don’t know, because I was a ballet dancer and soccer player…and now I do yoga, but it’s like I ran a freaking marathon. If one liked that sort of thing. Which I don’t really. Task 3, done.

And that my friends, was just the trip to the store. Not the putting away of groceries. Not the actual making of things with these groceries that you stare at and hope perform tricks after all of that, and jump into something nice like a soup or a 3 course meal. That was just the trip. The TRIP.

To further explain, I want to share this research on a pain analogy:

Old house

Pain is affected by how much we attend to the pain sensation. You can think of pain intensity being like the experience of trying to go to sleep in an old house. If you listen quietly, an old house will often creak and groan at night. If these sounds are familiar because they happen all the time, you assume they are just normal creaks and groans, do not pay much attention to them, and drift off to sleep. But, if someone had broken into the house recently, then you’d be on high alert. You’d pay close attention to every creak or groan, wonder if it meant that someone was trying to break into the house again, and stay awake for hours. Similarly, if you don’t attend to your pain you may find you don’t have too much difficulty doing what you want to do. But, if you think a lot about what all your pain might mean, or attend to how much the pain is bothering you, you will find that the pain interferes more with your life (S. Tupper, personal communication, 2012).

So, I kind of like this except for the fact that I wasn’t trying to “attend to my pain”; however, I have been to my Applied Health Doctor this week and worked on things we don’t usually work on. So those pain receptors were stuck open. Like an open gate. Bingo. That works. So read this:

Railroad crossing gate

The gate control theory is a very popular theory, originated in the early 1960’s by Melzack and Wall. This theory posits that there is a virtual gate that controls the magnitude of the pain signal that reaches the brain (Melzack & Wall, 1965). It can be effective to describe the path to families as an actual gate. You can think about pain signals being like trains passing through a railroad crossing gate. When the gate is all the way open, trains pass right through. Similarly, when the gate to your brain is open, pain signals have free access to your brain. Medication might close the gate partway, but for many people, medications do not close the gate completely. Other interventions such as learning cognitive behavioral therapy skills, distraction, engaging in acupuncture, and increasing activity can all be effective ways to close the gate and help to keep it closed.

So for the trip to the store I described above, all the while, the pain receptors mess with my concentration, my ability to think about anything but pain at times, and my desire to do things in the cold because the cold magnifies the pain I feel. However, that being said, when the gate is at least partway closed, I function better. That being said. I am not on any other medicine other than what Dr. Marion and I talk about. Many traditional medicine doctors have tried to put me on other things. I looked up all the side effects. It went from bad to worse. That being said, if it is working for you, that’s great. No one should have to be in pain. I hope it is working for you. I am stubborn, hard-headed and afraid of the horrible side effects since I already have other conditions.

Here is what I do when I am trying to close the gate. If I have eaten something that causes a Hashi’s flare, which can flare fibro pain, I use a wrap. One theory that we have come up with is that my lymph nodes are not exactly taking out the trash so to speak. When I wrap, I feel better. The bloating goes down, the flare is shorter, it just works. Ha. Get it. And yes, this is a company that both my doc and myself are in. I actually met her at one of the meetings.

Okay, so the next thing I do is to take some Relief. I have done extensive research in the last 3 years on anti-inflammatory foods. Guess what’s in here? Well, the cool thing is that we don’t hide any ingredients and they are all-natural. So turmeric, which is one of my favorite things to use, is there, plus yucca root. Did you know that An international research team reviewed data from previous studies on the anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic properties of Yucca schidigera, a type of yucca native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They noted strong evidence that yucca’s active components, including steroidal saponins, resveratrol and yuccaols, all seem to exert anti-inflammatory effects that may explain their historic use by folk medicine practitioners to treat arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Researchers recommended further research to try to pinpoint more accurately the mechanisms through which yucca prevents and/or treats arthritis. They published their findings in a 2006 issue of “Journal of Inflammation.” So when people tell me they don’t need this because they are already on a glucosamine & chondroitin sulfate formula, like maybe my husband, I say try this. And after generic versus mine, his pain was improved within one week of taking this.

So, I met a new lady this weekend and after doing an event where we set up our booths, something told me to speak to her about my fibro. She said she was undiagnosed for years but was always in pain. She described her pain as continuous, not being able to be touched and having the pressure points. I immediately told her about my products and since she looked exhausted, I asked her if she was going to have to rest the entire next day after the event. Her eyes welled with tears and she said “How did you know?” I lightly touched her arm and said I just know. I then told her about something that helps me sleep and recover. New You. It is again, phytotherapy, meaning plant-based. Years ago, when I was first doing research on natural therapy remedies, I heard about MSM. Plant based, and anti-inflammatory. Did not know how to find it back then. I had never heard of my company, It Works Global, and if I had, I wouldn’t have known about their leading phytotherapy research because people only associated them with “getting skinny”. I know, because the book of Face polices the website link. Anyway, New You helps to stimulate natural production and release of HGH (human growth hormone), while it aids in building lean muscle mass for those of us over ummmm 35. It enhances exercise endurance, AND helps improve sleep quality and memory. So for those of you not aware, fibromyalgia causes us not to get fully into REM sleep thus not feeling like we slept. This one supplement is a life-saver for me. Gate closed at night!!!!! Yes.

So why did I put all this in here? Because I am actually a tiny treasure trove of hopeful knowledge for people who think they can’t get help. I don’t advertise my other business page a lot, but I should. The tab on this blog says Vitalize You, and I invite my clients to ask me questions so we can get their body up and running again. Believe me, I do understand.

Author’s note: Since this post was written, I have done more for my clients than advise them on my all-natural supplements, which yes, to this day I take New You every night to sleep naturally and help me feel great. However, after completing over 200 hours of Vinyasa yoga and getting additionally certified in yoga for arthritis and pain, I created this program for you called 4 Weeks to Wellness. I put everything I had in it to create simple daily tasks that someone coming from this place of pain could manage. I have optional chair yoga pdfs, workbooks, journal therapy and more!!! It is a wonderful resource.

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The invisible war inside me threatens to take me down.

I suspect that if I were to take the posts about my food issues and put them together in a book, it would be helpful to many people. I will briefly try to explain what has happened to my body as best I understand it. When I was born, I was born with the C282y gene that the Irish people needed. It not being the potato famine and all that, it continues to function in the way it would have by holding onto iron. Basically, it is thought that this protein functions to regulate iron absorption, and mine is “broken” so to speak. Luckily, the porphyria cutanea tarda kicked in and gave me blisters all over and turned my urine dark. Warning! Warning! Anyway, you can see other posts about all that. Just use the search button.

So we have a kid loaded up on iron, fed by well water, eating collard greens like they are going out of style and taking her Flintstone vitamins. Anyone see what’s happening? Yes, you over there. Poisoning myself. That would be correct. Because my body has no way of getting rid of the access iron.

Now let’s throw in mononucleosis at age 15 which left behind some Epstein-Barr virus and find out that EBV latently persists in the individual’s B cells for the rest of the individual’s life. Hmmm. Not sure what happened with this, but I KNOW it was reactivated about 4 years ago which started causing a number of problems and thus spawning more invisible diseases.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis was found when my body starting attacking itself several years ago. To use a bit from the Mayo Clinic: Hashimoto’s disease is a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid, a small gland at the base of your neck below your Adam’s apple. The thyroid gland is part of your endocrine system, which produces hormones that coordinate many of your body’s activities.
Read that part again about coordinating MANY of your body’s activities. READ it. MANY. I exhibited every SINGLE one of the symptoms for all of these diseases, but never in my life had a light-bulb gone off as when my good friend told me to read about Hashimoto’s. I’m going to let you use the link above if you want to read more about Hashi’s but seriously it was the worst diagnosis. I just didn’t know it yet.

When I started to feel like I had the flu every single day for the last 3 years, I should have known something more was coming. The truth is, I did know. I knew I had fibromyalgia, I knew I was living with pain and the swollen tender points daily, but what I didn’t know was that it was so hard for people to understand and/or believe. From what I can tell, it is usually triggered by an underlying cause. Read more about fibromyalgia here.

All this bring me up to date, but what I left out was what I did in between to feel better. As the years went on, the extreme sensitivity to cold got to me. My bones ached to their very core. Still do, but cold is worse. My stomach bloated like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloon. I would have to go to the bathroom more than normal people, but still couldn’t lose weight. It was painful. I went through all kinds of tests, again that portion is in the blog if you search. Giving up gluten as BEST I could was not good enough. I really had to be serious. Then I suspected there was another trigger, so I gave up sugar in November. That was very, very, very difficult. I felt like Paula Deen came over and took away my Southern License.

I am not teaching. I actually could not continue. The pain, fatigue, constant contact with infection had my body fighting hard just to stay alive. Not to mention the phlebotomies, and the fact that now my blood cells are considered Microcytic Anemia stage. I was dizzy, it was hard to get my breath, and my exhaustion was at the highest it had been since I could remember.

I will not go down without a fight.

I started a process by researching all-natural supplements and what would help my body. I got off acid-blockers as my stomach was already having issues with digestion so that did not actually help. I started taking apple-cider vinegar in water. I added probiotics, see the tab here called Vitalize You for more on that, and I added vitamin D as well as a gluten-free supplement called It’s Vital. I still have bad days. Flare-ups, and days I stay in my pajamas, but the good days are now finally catching up to the bad days and for that I am thankful. I am working with my all-natural supplements business and I am spreading awareness of “invisible” diseases because they sure as hell aren’t invisible on the inside. Not at all.

Here is the Work With Me tab if you are interested in learning more on how I changed my life.

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There are days I write these and I think, “What could I have to say at a time like this that would motivate anyone?” And then I write anyway. Today is definitely one of those days. I am exhausted, aching again, and spent the last 4 days without a working kitchen sink. That meant no dishwasher or running water to use…anyway, moving on. I walked outside the other day and noticed the back of my roof was warped. I was sweeping my back porch and I swear it it actually sinking…SINKING. There may or may not be a leak further down the line in my pipes and we probably need new pipes leading up to the house put in as I have lived without water pressure for about 7 years now…not a big thing really. It’s an old house.

You see, I fell in love with the backyard. The BACK yard, where I don’t actually live. Once I walked outside, I was entranced. It looked like a magical place to raise my kids. The house was a hot mess. I have worked on it for years with the help of various people, friends, acquaintances, etc. Whoever would come do the occasional odd job. And suddenly this weekend, it seemed like I was ready to sell it. I was tired of trying to keep up with it. Then I read my friend’s post in Australia. I realized, that no matter where we are in this world, we all have similar problems, but someone can be in worse shape.

Now my Aussie friend has some sort of asbestos problem named Mr. Fluffy. Not funny, but I mean, Mr. Fluffy? Really??? She isn’t very happy with you right now Mr. Fluffy. Then, I think of my friend who lost her house due to Chinese Drywall. Her story was extremely scary, but luckily she has a new house in a new state.

So, erm, there was also the problem with the R-words here. That was actually nasty, but it has been taken care of. Apparently, there was an outbreak of some sort of roof R-words. R-words can not be tolerated. Anyway, moving on. I am not going to go into everything, but the bottom line is, with the exception of the R-words, we can actually live here. R words rhyme with bat…just saying.

So, the bottom line today, is that hopefully after my aching exhaustion goes away, things will be okay again. My girls helped me clean up, things are working for now, and I then had to sleep most of the day due to said fatigue, but it will be ok. So I say to you my friends, things will be okay. They are not maybe right this minute, but luckily, things change.

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There are days I write these and I think, “What could I have to say at a time like this that would motivate anyone?” And then I write anyway. Today is definitely one of those days. I am exhausted, aching again, and spent the last 4 days without a working kitchen sink. That meant no dishwasher or running water to use…anyway, moving on. I walked outside the other day and noticed the back of my roof was warped. I was sweeping my back porch and I swear it it actually sinking…SINKING. There may or may not be a leak further down the line in my pipes and we probably need new pipes leading up to the house put in as I have lived without water pressure for about 7 years now…not a big thing really. It’s an old house.

You see, I fell in love with the backyard. The BACK yard, where I don’t actually live. Once I walked outside, I was entranced. It looked like a magical place to raise my kids. The house was a hot mess. I have worked on it for years with the help of various people, friends, acquaintances, etc. Whoever would come do the occasional odd job. And suddenly this weekend, it seemed like I was ready to sell it. I was tired of trying to keep up with it. Then I read my friend’s post in Australia. I realized, that no matter where we are in this world, we all have similar problems, but someone can be in worse shape.

Now my Aussie friend has some sort of asbestos problem named Mr. Fluffy. Not funny, but I mean, Mr. Fluffy? Really??? She isn’t very happy with you right now Mr. Fluffy. Then, I think of my friend who lost her house due to Chinese Drywall. Her story was extremely scary, but luckily she has a new house in a new state.

So, erm, there was also the problem with the R-words here. That was actually nasty, but it has been taken care of. Apparently, there was an outbreak of some sort of roof R-words. R-words can not be tolerated. Anyway, moving on. I am not going to go into everything, but the bottom line is, with the exception of the R-words, we can actually live here.

So, the bottom line today, is that hopefully after my aching exhaustion goes away, things will be okay again. My girls helped me clean up, things are working for now, and I then had to sleep most of the day due to said fatigue, but it will be ok. So I say to you my friends, things will be okay. They are not maybe right this minute, but luckily, things change.

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Fibromyalgia Awareness

Every once in a while you might feel like Life has marched right up to you and thrown down the gauntlet. Poof. The dust rises and you look her right in the eye, and you say come on bitch. I got this. I was having a year like this, but no more. I made myself do a 90 day challenge on my little known supplement page called Vitalize You. Of course, my friends all know about it, but I won’t apologize for waking up and realizing what is in the food we eat. What is in the medicines we take, and what WAS in my vitamins. I now am on completely all-natural NON GMO products. It is very important for someone with autoimmune conditions.

May 12th is Fibromyalgia Awareness DAY. One day? Are you serious? No, that won’t cut it. I am going to try to talk about it more on my FB page for my blog. So to start off with, I encourage you to read a few articles I found. The first one was really hard for me to wrap my head around. I hurt all the time and you are telling me to exercise. WHY?? Even if I didn’t hurt, I am not likely to actually WANT to exercise. Sigh. Read Fibromyalgia Exercise Studies if you want. I have some lovely friends who try to encourage me out of my hermit-like state. I appreciate you all. Because I guess comfy clothes can be worn walking. So technically I don’t have to change…I can add that to my list.

Next, I was reading about Vitamin D Benefits and Fibromyalgia. I am really low on Vitamin D since I have that pesky vampire-type thing going on where my skin can actually be harmed by the sun. Go figure. I am now on an all-natural readily available Vitamin D supplement. Lastly, I read about this list where I pretty much had all the symptoms on it. It was depressing for a second, and then I thought, I have had these symptoms for as long as I can remember, get over it. Move. Do something. A war in my head would be like Darth Vader fighting Luke. Obviously my symptoms are the dark side…I am not giving in! Oh, the list is called Fibromyalgia Symptoms.

I hear the whooshing noise of the light sabers…I am screaming. Noooooo! What? I am a geek. You have whatever you want in your head. Okay, back to the fight. Whoosh. That breathing mask noise is on my nerves Darth.

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